


You Love the Filth

by blizzard



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10987557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blizzard/pseuds/blizzard
Summary: Batman suggests to Joker that maybe he should try going to therapy.





	You Love the Filth

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! It's been a while, but I thought I'd loosen up some by filling a fic prompt that I found on tumblr, [here.](https://batjokes-hell.tumblr.com/post/160438133586/batjokes-writing-prompt-iii)

“What do you mean I should see a therapist?” Joker spat the blood that had collected in his mouth on the concrete as he picked himself up from the floor. Damn, that was a good punch. 

“It would be good for you,” Batman tried to explain. The amount of times he had tried to pitch the idea to the Joker, he had lost count. Nevertheless, something drove him to continue offering a helping hand to his nemesis when he felt that he could do so and be minimally scathed in the process. 

Joker started to chuckle as he roughly shoved his fists into his coat pockets. “Oh, c’mon Batsy. You oughta know better than anyone else how many shrinks I’ve seen in my day. Good-for-nothing wastes of time, really.”

Batman didn’t let the fact that Joker’s smile was the only thing that caught the moonlight spilling in from the broken windows of the warehouse they were standing in intimidate him. “Joker, aren’t you tired of this _endless_ cycle? How can you keep being so dedicated to a lifestyle that only allows you continue with one failure after another?”

Joker took a couple steps towards Batman, standing on the edge of the shadow that bisected the floor between them. “Who are you to patronize me, Batman? What about you? Doesn’t that whole ‘holier-than-thou’ charade get _exhausting_?” He continued despite the fact that Batman had opened his mouth with a retort hanging on his tongue. “Really, it just sounds to me like you’re self projecting. You’re a random guy dressed in spandex running around living a vigilante lifestyle because _something_ is making you do it, nipping at your heels. I know it. I can feel it.”

He noticed the swallow that slithered down Batman’s throat in response. The equivalent to a flinch, as far as he’s concerned. So of course he’s right. 

“Maybe _you_ should be the one to go to therapy,” Joker jabed a pointed finger into Batman’s iconic sigil. “Deal with your inner demons like a big boy, why don’t you?” 

The corners of Batman’s mouth angled downwards as he slapped Joker’s hand away rougher than he had intended to. He didn’t want to give the clown the satisfaction of knowing he had struck a nerve, but Joker’s smug smirk told him that he already had. 

“Yeowch, like to play rough, don’t ya, sugar?” Joker pantomimed shaking off a stinging pain in his hand, though Batman knew damn well that Joker’s bruised cheekbone hurt much more than some irritated swat to the hand. 

“I’m just trying to help you.”

“Help me? Ha!” Joker cackled again. Batman couldn’t tell if the tear he wiped from the corner of his eye was fake or not. 

“Alright Batsy, you wanna know why I’m so dedicated to this lifestyle of mine?” Joker said, pitching his voice lower and leaning closer towards Batman’s face. 

Batman didn’t move away, though he didn’t move closer either. His lips pursed in a line.

“I think it’s fun is all!” Joker chirped, touching his finger to the nose of Batman’s mask as if he were a mere child. “I like the sense of rhythm I get from doing practically anything and always without fail, you’re there to “show” your face. Or, I guess not, what with the mask and all. But you get what I mean, that stable formula of: I do something, you respond, we tousle, and then we do it all over again.”

“It’s masochistic,” Batman folded his arms.

“Then would that make you sadistic?” Joker grinned gleefully. 

“Not nearly as sadistic as you,” Batman retorted. 

Joker giggled again, to Batman’s chagrin. He wasn’t here to entertain him. 

“Oh honey, what’s a guy to think when you keep coming back for more? Clearly you’re getting something out of it, which is why you love it.” Joker playfully pat Batman’s cheek while the sting of his own served as a warning he chose to ignore. 

“I don’t love it,” Batman denied, pushing the clown away. 

“Liar!” Joker declared, straightening his jacket with a grin. “I love causing it, and you love stopping it. You can’t deny it, you love being in and around the filth of Gotham. It calls to you, seduces you, and if you feel the need to tell yourself that you’re only doing this to better others instead of indulging in your own desire, then so be it. But deep down, we both know the truth: You love the filth.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well, It's been a while since I've written anything substantial, and this is my first time writing anything Batman related. So really this small ficlette was to help me get back in the groove and to explore Batman and Joker's characters more. 
> 
> PS: Is it cheesy that I used the last line as the title? Lol. If it is, I'm sorry. I'm really not good at coming up with titles.


End file.
